Category: News

The Land and Water Conservation Fun (LWCF) is our country’s premier program to fund public access, fish and wildlife conservation and outdoor recreation. Public access and habitat conservation are critical to sustain hunting and fishing in America. LWCF supports these pillars of our sporting heritage and it is imperative that Congress provide full, dedicated funding for this vital program.

The public lands maintenance backlog has been mounting for decades and is now estimated at nearly $20 billion. This issue has created a host of problems that impair trout fisheries, including substandard roads that bleed sediment into streams and defective culverts that block fish migration. It is crucial that the National Park Service, Forest Service, BLM, and Fish and Wildlife Service all receive funding to tackle the growing maintenance backlog.

Trout Unlimited is asking members to contact their representatives in Congress to support the Great American Outdoors Act. Click here for a letter you can easily send.

Trout Unlimited President and CEO Chris Wood issued a statement this week saying the organization will work toward creating an environment of greater equity.

In part, Wood wrote:

Good comes when we listen more, understand more, and judge less — when we seek compassion and ways to help our neighbors. Good comes from building an America that truly protects the rights and freedoms of all its people.

Inequity and violence destroy. When we build community, we create.

Trout Unlimited and its 300,000 members and supporters will play an active role in efforts to build a more inclusive community across the nation. We cannot simply ignore the news, go fishing, and wait this out. Trout Unlimited will be part of the solution by addressing the inequities in our communities, and by building space for all people to participate in our mission of conserving, protecting, and restoring our watersheds.

Click here to read more.

Six weeks after stripping federal protections from millions of miles of streams and millions of acres of wetlands, the Environmental Protection Agency is further weakening the Clean Water Act by sharply restricting the longstanding authority of local communities to protect their streams and rivers.

Click here to read more from Trout Unlimited on how you can help.

A survey by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection sees a significant drop in the population of wild trout in the state.

Click here to download a PDF of the report.

The May 2020 study reports: “Statewide, we found a decrease in the number of locations (about 33% ) as well as an overall decrease in the number of fish.”

“Connecticut’s landscape and climate has changed over the past three decades. These changes are predicted to continue and most likely have a negative impact on cold water obligate fish species such as
Brook Trout,” according to the report by Brian Eltz and Mike Beauchene of the DEEP.

Pointing out that the Brook Trout is Connecticut’s only native, non-migratory salmonid, they write, “As a species with specific cold water requirements, the future of wild Brook Trout in Connecticut in the context of climate change and increased development is uncertain and potentially in jeopardy.”

The authors recommend drawing a new list of randomly selected sites every 5 years to compile a series of statewide estimates of wild Brook Trout distribution and population density values.

Starting now, additional work using the universe of locations where wild Brook Trout were not observed is warranted. This work should seek to identify key variables responsible or related to the absence of wild Brook Trout and determine their magnitude of change. Some categories of variables, which may have changed from the initial sampling over 30 years ago include land cover, out of stream diversion of water and stocking of adult domestic trout (brooks, browns, rainbows, and tigers) in the same reach containing wild populations, stocking of Atlantic Salmon and Brown Trout fry, harvest limits, size limits, etc..

The fishing trip to the private Limestone Trout Club scheduled for Wednesday, May 20, has been postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Information on the possibility of a new date will be posted as it becomes available.

Lunch is included and please bring your check/cash with you.

The Coronavirus Pandemic has kept anglers from gathering for Trout Unlimited meetings, but national is offering training via the web to keep everyone connected.

Click on the the following to join pcoming sessions:

Thursday, May 14, 8 p.m. — Outreach to Military & First Responder Communities

Tuesday, May 19, 8 p.m. — Innovations Driven by COVID – Tactics & Technology

Thursday, June 4, 8 p.m. — Planning for the Fall: What Activities Work Best

Sonny Yu will join us via Zoom to share his passion for Fly Fishing for American Shad on Tuesday, May 19, at 7 p.m..

The talk is open to anglers of all styles, spin or fly, and one need not be a Trout Unlimited member to attend.

The annual American Shad run is historic in Connecticut and many anglers look forward to it each spring. The shad swim up the Connecticut River and its tributaries and anglers await opportunities to hook into these aggressive fish which would test their backing.

Sonny grew up fishing, and his love for the sport brought him to the Chicopee River in Western Massachusetts, where he encountered fly fishing and American shad. He purchased a fly rod combo, slowly learned the essentials of fly fishing, and never looked back.

Sonny has written an ebook to share his passion to chase American Shad with the fly rod. His ebook contains all the essential information which includes detailed instructions and maps to successfully catch shad with a single-handed or two-handed fly rod. In addition to his ebook, Sonny also offer shad flies and guide service during the shad run, and enjoys introducing others to the fishery.

To join the meeting via Zoom, visit:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88971607852?pwd=WCtHblhTckxjSUJ1V0p1NlRENkNadz09

Meeting ID: 889 7160 7852
Password: 349677
One tap mobile
+19292056099,,88971607852#,,1#,349677# US (New York)
+13017158592,,88971607852#,,1#,349677# US (Germantown)

Dial by your location
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
Meeting ID: 889 7160 7852
Password: 349677
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdafZVFh8o

Trout Unlimited is offering free membership to three special groups of people right now:

Essential Workers: https://gifts.tu.org/essentialworkers_join for anyone who is an essential worker during the pandemic

Mothers Day: https://gifts.tu.org/moms-free for all moms out there – this offer ends at close of business Monday

Veterans & First Responders: https://gifts.tumembership.org/vsp_join for active, reserve and retired military as well as for first responders (police, fire, EMS etc…)

Despite over a decade of opposition, the agency reviewing the permit application for the massive proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska recently moved the mega-project one step closer to reality. Without our help, the project is currently on track to begin digging a massive hole at the headwaters of Bristol Bay.

Do everything in your power to stop the proposed Pebble Mine:  https://standup.tu.org/save-bristol-bay/